NEW DELHI: The Indian government which pretends to be secular in its religious policy is all set to frustrate the Bihar chief ministers reported plan to transfer control of the Bodh Gaya temple in Bihar to Buddhists.
The management of the shrine at present is governed by the Bodh Gaya Temple Act 1949 which provides for management by a five-member committee of which three must be Hindus including its chairman. Interestingly the law provides that the chairman shall be the district magistrate of Gaya if he is a Hindu. In the alternative some other Hindu shall be a member of the management committee.
This blatant interference in the Buddhist religion by the Indian government is based on the Hindu myth that Mahatma Budha was reclamation of a Hindu god Mahesh and that the shrine should be managed “jointly” by Buddhists and Hindus. But the Buddhists do not subscribe to the Hindu view. They regard Buddhism as a separate religion and do not want Hindus to interfere in the religious affairs of Buddhists.
A massive procession was taken out by Buddhists early this month which started from Bombay and terminated at Bodh Gaya to highlight the Hindu interference in the Buddhist religion The Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav who is evidently sympathetic to the Buddhist aspirations assured the marchers that a solution to the issue will be found within 10 days Although he did not spell out the solution the chief minister may be planning to amend the Bodh Gaya Act to provide for all-Buddhist management of the shrine which is visited by Buddhists from all over the world because it was at this place that Mahatma Budha had received enlightenment.
The Indian government’s Hindu bureaucracy has let it be known that Delhi will not agree to the solution proposed by the Bihar chief minister. In this connection the Indian government will use the provisions of the 1991 law called the Places of Worship Act to block any amendment of the 1949 Act.
The Indian officers argument is that no more temple controversies should be allowed even as the prime minister is toying with the idea of the Indian state itself building a temple at Ayodhya to appease fundamentalist Hindus.
A typical method to counter the Buddhist demand being employed by the Indian government is by Suggesting that an all-Buddhist control of the shrine is not being demanded by Dalai Lama and other international Buddhist elements. Dalai Lama is dependent on the Indian government and has been staying in India for more than three decades. India says that only neo-Buddhists are in favor of the demand. In other words the followers of Dr. B. R Ambedkarare alone in demanding the all-Buddhist control of the shrine.
Political observers feel that India is following a well-known Hindu method of dividing the Buddhists between neo-Buddhists and Buddhists in the same way as it has effectively divided Sikhs on Khalistan and other important issues affecting Sikhs.
Meanwhile a Japanese monk Bhante Arya Nagarjun Surai Sasi who heads the Buddhist agitation has threatened an international agitation if the Buddhist demand is not conceded within 10 days Reports here are that the developments at Boan Gaya have evolved interests in Sri Lanka Nepal and several other south east Asian countries
Article extracted from this publication >> November 6, 1992
